November 2010 Grocery Challenge

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  • Hi All. Have spent just over £13 between Monday and Friday this week. I am covered until Sunday unless my weekend plans get cancelled. I need to get food for next week including lunches. Will plan before I buy. I am stocked up on washing powder, loo rolls etc so no expecting any non-edible spend. Have got a £4 Tes token so will get that used up too. Have a good weekend.
  • slbhill
    slbhill Posts: 5,441
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    Thursday is my usual grocery shopping day and I nearly didn't go because I barely needed anything, but figured I need bread, milk & eggs, plus maybe some f&v so I'll pop round Mr A to have an explore (not been there before). So of course I came out £40 poorer :o

    I bought a few things that weren't on the list but were good prices and will last a good while (de-icer for the car, salt for the drive, tea bags on special offer and electric toothbrush heads about half the price I'd refused to pay at Mr T a few weeks ago: that was £13). Also £10 of Christmas present type oddments, so I suppose I could claim only £17 was actual groceries, but I'm not that sneaky :p

    Next week is my last regular shop of the month and I have about £24 to spend. It's going to be tight but I am still hopeful! On the plus side I am definitely getting more aware of prices and what I'm spending, so the challenge is serving its purpose even if I don't hit the actual budget.
  • lil_me
    lil_me Posts: 13,186
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    After doing a large online shop I'm now up to £189.... But the cupboards have a lot in them, freezer is quite full and fridge is packed. I feel much more settled now after buying the bare minimum for ages

    Need to meal plan!!!
    One day I might be more organised...........:confused:
    GC: £200
    Slinkies target 2018 - another 70lb off (half way to what the NHS says) so far 25lb
  • Managed to stay away from supermarkets this week but have had a bad couple of days. We're having to travel to Birmingham on a weekly basis at the moment so my OH can get treatment for a tumor he's got. We're driving as it's the cheapest option, but still having to fork out for petrol. It's an 8 hour 460 mile round trip ( without traffic problems ) so we ended up getting a burger king meal at a cost of £11 and then by the time we got home I was so tired that I couldn't face cooking anything so we ended up getting a takeaway which cost another £10.40 and really it's money we don't have.

    We have to go back down next week which will cost at least another £60 in petrol alone and will be the third trip of the month. We don't have that much money left in our account so some is going to have to come out of the food budget, but I don't know how we'll get by as there's only £51.75 left in the food budget as it is and I've got people coming round on sat night so need to buy stuff in to cook a meal for them. We've got a further 3 trips to Birmingham in December as well.

    Feeling completely low and fed up and don't know how we're going to get through, especially as I've barely started on my christmas shopping yet
    Going to get to grips with food shopping again, starting February!

    Got married to my lovely hubby on 12/11/2011 :D
  • losingpatience - what a horrible time for you and your husband. It seems awful that there is not a hospital nearer that could provide the necessary care for your husband. It's things like this that do put the grocery challnge into perspective but nethertheless I guess you can't keep going outside of your budget grocery wise because you could end up with no more money in any account to fall back on. (I am slowly beginnng to realise this myself.) Could you not explain to the people coming to your house how much these hospital trips are costing you and that you cannot unfortunately afford to get some food in for them. You never know, they might offer to bring some food themseves.
    Grocery aim £450pm.Spent £519 August, £584 July, £544 June, £541 May, £549 April, £517 March, £517 Feb,£555 Jan, £573 Dec, £465Nov, £561Oct, £493Sept, £426Aug,£496 Jul, £528Jun, £506May,£498April, £558 March, £500Feb, £500 Jan, £490 Dec, £555 Nov,£566 Oct, £505Sept, £450Aug, £410 July, £437 June, £491 May, £471 April, £440 March, £552Feb, £462Jan
  • mum2b
    mum2b Posts: 79
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    URGH am already over budget by £10.62 - and will probably end the month at least £25 over! More so if that £25.11 amount that I have found was not counted in last months :mad: I can't even blame xmas as that is a seperate budget.........
    Hey ho! At least I am keeping an eye on it :p
    Sep GC £235.51/£225.00
    Oct GC £240.44/£225.00
    Nov GC £170.76/£235.62
  • wssla00
    wssla00 Posts: 1,875 Forumite
    Managed to stay away from supermarkets this week but have had a bad couple of days. We're having to travel to Birmingham on a weekly basis at the moment so my OH can get treatment for a tumor he's got. We're driving as it's the cheapest option, but still having to fork out for petrol. It's an 8 hour 460 mile round trip ( without traffic problems ) so we ended up getting a burger king meal at a cost of £11 and then by the time we got home I was so tired that I couldn't face cooking anything so we ended up getting a takeaway which cost another £10.40 and really it's money we don't have.

    We have to go back down next week which will cost at least another £60 in petrol alone and will be the third trip of the month. We don't have that much money left in our account so some is going to have to come out of the food budget, but I don't know how we'll get by as there's only £51.75 left in the food budget as it is and I've got people coming round on sat night so need to buy stuff in to cook a meal for them. We've got a further 3 trips to Birmingham in December as well.

    Feeling completely low and fed up and don't know how we're going to get through, especially as I've barely started on my christmas shopping yet


    Hiya,

    Just wanted to send my well wishes. Have you called marie curie? They have access to funds for people living with cancer and may be able to help with some of the travel costs.

    Hope things go ok.
    Feb GC: £200 Spent: £190.79
  • Hippeechiq
    Hippeechiq Posts: 1,103 Forumite
    Managed to stay away from supermarkets this week but have had a bad couple of days. We're having to travel to Birmingham on a weekly basis at the moment so my OH can get treatment for a tumor he's got. We're driving as it's the cheapest option, but still having to fork out for petrol. It's an 8 hour 460 mile round trip ( without traffic problems ) so we ended up getting a burger king meal at a cost of £11 and then by the time we got home I was so tired that I couldn't face cooking anything so we ended up getting a takeaway which cost another £10.40 and really it's money we don't have.

    We have to go back down next week which will cost at least another £60 in petrol alone and will be the third trip of the month. We don't have that much money left in our account so some is going to have to come out of the food budget, but I don't know how we'll get by as there's only £51.75 left in the food budget as it is and I've got people coming round on sat night so need to buy stuff in to cook a meal for them. We've got a further 3 trips to Birmingham in December as well.

    Feeling completely low and fed up and don't know how we're going to get through, especially as I've barely started on my christmas shopping yet

    Oh hun - what an awful situation for you to be in.......I can't even begin to imagine :grouphug:

    On the practical side of things - the recipe below may not be dinner party fayre, but it is totally delicious and very cheap to make. This serves 2-3 depending on how hungry you are, so you'd probably need to double it.

    I serve it with something like broccoli and sweetcorn

    POTATO ONION & BACON HOTPOT

    3-5 Medium Potatoes, thinly sliced
    1 Large Onion, thinly sliced
    3 Bacon Rashers, chopped and dry fried for a few mins till crispy

    White Sauce
    1 Tablespoon Flour
    1 Tablespoon Butter
    ½ Pint Milk
    50G Cheese, grated
    Cayenne, Paprika & Pepper to taste

    Place 1st 3 sauce ingredients into a saucepan and heat over a medium heat whisking continuously until ingredients have melted and combined and you have a thick sauce.
    Stir in cheese until incorporated and add Cayenne, Paprika & Pepper to taste

    Pre-heat oven to 200C
    Grease a casserole dish
    Add a layer of Potatoes (season with pepper only as there is salt in the bacon) a layer of Onion and a layer of Bacon
    Repeat layers
    When you have used ½ your ingredients, pour over half the cheese sauce
    Continue with layers making sure you end with a Potato layer
    Pour over remaining sauce

    Cook covered for 45mins then remove lid and cook for a further 30-45mins @ 180C


    It's not posh, but presumably these people are friends, so just explain the situation. The above is also a simple, hassle free dish, that once assembled and in the oven you don't really have to do much else with it, so you can spend time with your visitors.

    OR
    To Serve 4
    400g Chicken Breast diced
    ½ - ¾ pack of Iceland Frozen Mediterranean Vegetables
    2 Sachets Blue Dragon Stir Fry Sauces (for example Chow Mein, Ginger & Garlic, Sweet & Sour)
    Approx 600g Egg Noodles

    Fry chicken until browned (4-5 mins) remove from pan and keep warm
    Fry Mediterranean Veg for 8 mins - stirring all the time
    Put Egg Noodles into a pan of boiling water and cook for 4 mins
    Add Chicken back to the pan with the 2 Stir Fry Sauces and cook for a further 4 mins

    Serve chicken and med veg on a bed of noodles with some naan or garlic bread.


    Not as cheap obviously, but very quick. If you halved the ingredients, this would also be a quick meal for you and your OH after you get home from his treatment. Or maybe you could even get a couple of ready meals that you can bung in the microwave.

    Maybe possibly set a casserole on a timer in your oven (or slow cooker if you have one) so that you have something waiting for you as soon as you walk through the door.

    I used to have to do a journey with similar mileage every 6 weeks, and the cost of petrol was also similar, and my OH and I used to stop at the service station for something to eat, but as you say it's a least a tenner, and we got so we just couldn't afford it.

    We couldn't do anything about the cost of the petrol, but in the end, we used to take two flasks and a packed lunch, either sandwiches or cold pasta salad, crisps, chocolate bar and so on and tried to make sure it something that we would look forward to eating, even though it was cold.

    This time of year if you have enough flasks, maybe you could even take soup and some bread rolls too, so that you at least both have something warm inside you that isn't only hot beverage.

    I wish you and your OH the very best of luck with his treatment hun - and please feel free to come on here and vent
    Aug11 £193.29/£240

    Oct10 £266.72 /£275 Nov10 £276.71/£275 Dec10 £311.33 / £275 Jan11 £242.25/ £250 Feb11 £243.14/ £250 Mar11 £221.99/ £230
    Apr11 £237.39 /£240 May11 £237.71/£240 Jun11 £244.03/ £240 July11 £244.89/ £240
    Xmas 2011 Fund £220
  • Spiggle
    Spiggle Posts: 1,787
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    Managed to stay away from supermarkets this week but have had a bad couple of days. We're having to travel to Birmingham on a weekly basis at the moment so my OH can get treatment for a tumor he's got. We're driving as it's the cheapest option, but still having to fork out for petrol. It's an 8 hour 460 mile round trip ( without traffic problems ) so we ended up getting a burger king meal at a cost of £11 and then by the time we got home I was so tired that I couldn't face cooking anything so we ended up getting a takeaway which cost another £10.40 and really it's money we don't have.

    We have to go back down next week which will cost at least another £60 in petrol alone and will be the third trip of the month. We don't have that much money left in our account so some is going to have to come out of the food budget, but I don't know how we'll get by as there's only £51.75 left in the food budget as it is and I've got people coming round on sat night so need to buy stuff in to cook a meal for them. We've got a further 3 trips to Birmingham in December as well.

    Feeling completely low and fed up and don't know how we're going to get through, especially as I've barely started on my christmas shopping yet

    Oh losingpatience I really feel for you and am sending hugs for what they're worth. :grouphug:

    There are some good ideas already on how you could manage for Saturday. You could always dub it a Magical Mystery Munch night and have everyone bring something different.

    In a similar vein to wssla00 above, have you approached Macmillan at all? I wonder if they can offer some support?

    I know from experience it can feel very lonely when you're dealing with things like this so please do come here when you're feeling like you want to let it all out. You know we're always here to support you. :grouphug:

    I'll be back later to update.

    All the best,
    Spigs
    Mortgage Free October 2013 :T
  • katholicos
    katholicos Posts: 2,658 Forumite
    Managed to stay away from supermarkets this week but have had a bad couple of days. We're having to travel to Birmingham on a weekly basis at the moment so my OH can get treatment for a tumor he's got. We're driving as it's the cheapest option, but still having to fork out for petrol. It's an 8 hour 460 mile round trip ( without traffic problems ) so we ended up getting a burger king meal at a cost of £11 and then by the time we got home I was so tired that I couldn't face cooking anything so we ended up getting a takeaway which cost another £10.40 and really it's money we don't have.

    We have to go back down next week which will cost at least another £60 in petrol alone and will be the third trip of the month. We don't have that much money left in our account so some is going to have to come out of the food budget, but I don't know how we'll get by as there's only £51.75 left in the food budget as it is and I've got people coming round on sat night so need to buy stuff in to cook a meal for them. We've got a further 3 trips to Birmingham in December as well.

    Feeling completely low and fed up and don't know how we're going to get through, especially as I've barely started on my christmas shopping yet

    LP, sorry you are feeling so low, and also very sorry to read about your OH. (((big hugs)))

    My DD commutes to Birmingham 4 days a week and it costs a minimum of £10 in petrol each day, but is cheaper than the cost of paying rent if she lived there. The traffic can be a nightmare and it is so unpredictable too.

    Hope you and your OH go on okay.
    Grocery Challenge for October: £135/£200


    NSD Challenge: October 0/14
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